New design for Château Laurier addition ‘protects view from Major’s Hill Park’

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has unveilled yet another design concept for an addition to the iconic Château Laurier.

Mayor Jim Watson says hotel owners LARCO and Heritage Ottawa have “worked collaboratively and agreed on a new design for the Château Laurier that protects views from Major’s Hill Park and meets Council’s key conditions for improvement.”

Ottawa City Council has looked at and debated the a handful of design options since 2018, but this appears to be the first that does not block the view of the back of the hotel from those sitting in Major's Hill Park.

In the fall of 2019, the city told LARCO that its most recent design was situated too close to Major's Hill Park (within centimetres). Ottawa's bylaw stated that it would have to be at least three metres away from the park's property line. 

That halted the expansion, but on October 17, when the owner of the Château Laurier appealed the city committee's rejection of that part of its plan and filed an appeal to the province's Local Planning Appeals Tribunal.

“We have concerns with the decision of the Committee,” wrote Michael Polowin, Heritage Ottawa, in a statement to 1310 NEWS at the time. “However, the appeal will ensure that Heritage Ottawa has party status in the hearing of Larco's appeal.”

Heritage Ottawa didn't expect a hearing to be scheduled for at least six months, but now it appears the two sides may have worked something out.